Friday Randomness

Friday already?  Wow.  That’s crazy.  OK, here we go.

  1. I adore the fact that Obama won.  I keep hearing how our economy is on the mend, things are getting better, all of that.  I want Obama to get credit.  I don’t necessarily think that the President actually has much power to make jobs and fix the economy.  But if Obama is in the White House while it happens, then he gets credit, and hopefully the next election will also go well.  If Romney were in the White House, he would get credit, and the next election might go his way.  I don’t like that.  Then of course there’s the whole pro-choice thing, and who we get as a supreme court justice.  Then of course there’s the fact that I like Obama, and I feel like although he is far more moderate than I am, at least he’s closer to my values than Romney and the extreme right wing that was working to pull him to the dark side.   So yay.
  2. Maya has been driving all week.  She’s starting to get a feel for the boundaries of the car and where they are.  Ted’s been great, taking her out to drive after school in the afternoons.  The more practice, the better.  I do wish that we had a more rural environment for her to learn in, but at the same time, this is where she lives, so I guess it’s good that she learns here.
  3. Lincoln is coming out today, or maybe next week, depending on where you live.  I’m looking forward to seeing it.  The first review I’ve seen is the SF Chronicle, which says it’s AWESOME.  Groovy, I’m in.  Also the new James Bond review.  Not a fan of Bond movies, but they can be fun, so if others in the house want to go, I’ll go.
  4. Work is crazy busy.  We’re going into year end, with states changing their withholding tables and so on.  My job is to update computer software with the changes, so our clients’ employees will have correct withholding.  Plus I get to do busy work for a project that is going on.  Plus I get to do two aspects of my coworker’s job, since she was laid off in May.  So I’m busy.  Trying to put aside time for exercise and so on, but it’s not easy.
  5. We went from mid-80s this week, to cool and rainy.  I love it. Not a fan of the hot, and when it comes to November, not even a fan of the medium hot. I want cool or cold.  And I feel so fortunate to be here, safe and warm, not affected by first Sandy and then the snow and (real) cold.  My heart goes out to those people who have lost loved ones, to those who are without power and in a difficult situation right now.
  6. Anyone reading a good book?  I’m trying to get into Tracks, by Louise Erdrich.  There’s nothing wrong with it, but I find myself watching reruns of old TV shows instead of reading.  Like M*A*S*H and Cosby Show.  Not a good sign.  I don’t do much nonfiction, so keep that in mind if you’re going to recommend a book. 🙂

Happy Friday everyone!

9 Comments

  • Nance

    Oh, you KNOW I am looking forward to “Lincoln” whenever it gets here to NEO. It is the absolute Convergence Of Wonderfulness for me: DD-L, Abraham Lincoln, and Doris Kearns Goodwin and her book TEAM OF RIVALS, all things I adore. I am so excited.

    Your pining for cool/cold weather must be the Alaskan in you!

    I have been struggling to read “Giant in the Shadows”, a biography of Robert Todd Lincoln, for months now. It’s a hard go,and I keep stopping. The problem is that the author, whose work I have read and enjoyed before, is hell-bent on including EVERY SINGLE PIECE OF RESEARCH in this book, no matter how minute and mundane it is, even, for example, RTL’s grades in prep school. Okay, who cares? How his editor allowed this is beyond me. It’s very self-indulgent and biased, and it’s obv. that the author wants this book to be the seminal work on RTL. Very irksome.

    • J

      Nance, maybe it is the Alaskan in me, though I do not at all pine for the kind of cold weather YOU get. Perhaps it’s the Portlandian in me (though I’ve never lived there). I just adore cool misty days.

      I hope you LOVE Lincoln. It’s supposed to be EVERYWHERE next week, just selected cities this week.

      I hate struggling with books. Often I just give up and put them down.

  • Rain Trueax

    Lincoln sounds wonderful and i agree with you about the election results.

    As for a book, I am not generally a fan of mysteries but if you have not tried the Craig Johnson Longmire books, based in Wyoming with a sheriff who reads Shakespeare as the hero. I loved them and read them all as once I got the first one, The Cold Dish, I was hooked.

    • J

      Rain, There’s a TV show based on those books, Longmire. We’ve seen a couple of episodes, it’s really good. 🙂 Maybe I’ll look into the books…

  • Ted

    Maya’s getting better at driving, but it’s a process. And just when I get comfortable about her abilities, she does something that shows she had very little experience and doesn’t understand the rules of the road. Overall, though, she’s progressing very nicely — despite the occasional white knuckle moments.

    • J

      I’m glad she’s improving, and I’m glad you’re taking the first outings, so when I get in the car with her, it won’t be so scary. I’m selfish that way. 😉

  • Cherry

    Come on over here. Even on insane hot days (70s) we always end them with cold misty evenings!

    I was as awesome driver from the moment I took the wheel dispite what my mom said. I’m sure Maya will feel the same way someday. (I am not taking my kids out to learn. We will all end up crying)

    Election? There was an Election?

    I am also hoping to see Lincoln though I’ll probably see it in about 5 years.

    Books….shockingly I AM READING! My fav of the moment is Girl in Translation but I have a feeling you’ve read it. It seems to be the kind of book you would read. My least fav which I know is on your list is Perks of Being a Wallflower. Skip it. Don’t pick it up when you get the call/email from the library and let your enjoyment of the movie be enough or do since it will only take you a few days to read, and let me know your thoughts.

    • J

      Cherry, I’ve not read (or heard of) Girl in Translation. Yay that you have time to read! I’ve heard so many glowing things about Perks, I’m surprised to hear that you felt it to be a waste of time. I don’t really expect it to be great literature…it was published by MTV, after all. 😉 I’ll be interested to see if I fall in with you, or with the people who adored it. When I looked up Girl in Translation on Amazon, it said that two other books that people often buy along with it are Cane River, which I read a few years ago and LOVED enough that I gave it as a gift, and The Soldier’s Wife, which looks interesting to me, because it takes place in Guernsey, France. I read a book a few years ago with the unfortunate title of The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, which seemed like it would be horrid, but it was actually VERY good.

  • Bugwalk

    I’m relieved that Obamacare will stay in place. (And I can’t believe how many people voted for Romney. All those people really believed they knew what he actually stands for and that he has their best interests at heart?)